Laryngeal masks are used to ventilate and to supply anesthetic gases to a patient during surgery. Laryngeal masks typically include an airway conduit and a mask with and inflatable cuff. After insertion into a subject, the inflatable cuff is inflated with air supplied along an inflation conduit to form a seal around a laryngeal inlet. The inflation conduit terminates in a pilot balloon and inflation valve.
Laryngeal masks may be sterilized using heating and vacuuming processes. Between product packaging and patient use, including during sterilization, it may be desirable to maintain the inflation valve in an open position. This may be accomplished using a vent clip. A currently available vent clip 200, as shown in FIG. 2, utilizes two small gripping surfaces 202 and 204 for gripping portions of the inflation valve to connect the vent clip to the inflation valve. Vent clip 200 utilizes a generally flat projection 206 to hold the stem of the inflation valve in an open position. Currently available vent clips suffer from a number of drawbacks and often become dislodged from the inflation valve during sterilization, transport or handling. For a single use type laryngeal mask, the entire laryngeal mask may no longer be suitable for use if the vent clip has become inadvertently dislodged prior to use.